Mike Scioscia Weeps

ShysterBall’s International Correspondent, Ron Rollins, alerts us to this interesting development in the final and deciding game of the Philippines World Series (or whatever it is they call it):

Joseph Orillana made Game 2 of Baseball Philippines Series 4 finals a one-man show.

The 28-year old national team member performed an all-around effort to lead the Cebu Dolphins to their second championship in team history with a 1-0 blanking of the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers.

Orillana dominated the Dumaguete batters with his arms while droving in the game‘s only run with a surprising suicide squeeze that clinched a sweep of the best-of-three series . . . Orillana, who posted a batting average of .461 with four RBIs, two doubles and a .615 slugging percentage, stunned everyone with a perfectly placed bunt to the left side that allowed Orobia to slide home beneath the legs of catcher Edmer del Socorro.

As Ron put it: “The series winning run scored on a squeeze by a guy hitting .461? Somewhere, a sabermetrician’s head just exploded.”

By the way: Ron, who is a longtime friend of ShysterBall — one of the longest, in fact — has his own baseball blog now called Baseball Over Here, which focuses on the game from an international perspective. Ron, a father, an Army veteran, a Missouri native, and Royals fan, has somehow found himself living in the south of England for the past several months, and his experiences there have caused him to look at the game from a new perspective. Based on some of the crazy stuff he has found in the past few weeks, it may end up being baseball’s version of News of the Weird. Wherever it goes, however, I highly recommend that you check out his blog.

But do it quickly! Once the restraining orders keeping Ron away from Trey Hillman and Dayton Moore expire, he may be back in Missouri.

The Angels, having fallen behind in the bidding for Mark Teixeira, have offered Joseph Orillana an 8 year deal reportedly worth around $165 million. The Yankees immediately countered by offering 10 years and $210 million. When asked for comments, Brian Cashman responded, “We offered what for who now?”